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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

University Club Announces Sixth “Artist in Residence”

Bill Pettit to Exhibit Work from May-August 2016

In addition to paintings by Jonathan Bradley Morse and Walter Launt Palmer and sculpture by Terri Boor, the Living Room, Lobby and Dining Room of the University Club of Albany have long featured works from a variety of local artists.

From May – August, the University Club will present a solo exhibition of the works of William O. Pettit III, who will serve as the Club’s sixth Artist in Residence.

A Meet the Artist Reception will be held on 1st Friday, May 6 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the National Register-listed University Club at 141 Washington Avenue at Dove Street. The reception is free and open to the public as part of the University Club’s participation in 1st Friday, the arts walk that showcases the lively art scene in downtown Albany. Guests are invited to stay on after the reception for live music in the Grille Room with Off the Record, the Capital District’s only rock n’ roll lounge band, from 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Scheduled to run through Friday, August 26, the exhibition will be on view during public and special events at the Club, and by appointment with the artist, who will receive an honorary membership in the University Club for the duration of the show. Previous Artists in Residence were Ken Ragsdale, Channing Lefebvre, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and Joleen Button and David Hinchen. Their work spanned many artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, sculpture, paper-craft, and photographs.

The proprietor of Pettit Design Studio, Bill Pettit has served for 14 years as the president of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association. While much of his work is inspired by the natural landscapes of the Hudson Valley and New England, the University Club exhibition will highlight his portraiture.

He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended Middlebury College. He teaches painting classes at the Albany Art Room and at the Urban Scholars Program for middle school students in the Albany School District at Siena College. He has a collection of more than 180 volumes of the same book, Moby Dick. Most editions are in English, but some are printed in Japanese, Chinese, Latvian, Icelandic and a number of other languages.

Pettit’s work has been exhibited at the Way Out Gallery in Rensselaerville, New York, an artist-run art gallery space bringing contemporary art to the Helderbergs in southern Albany County. He was a featured artist at the Upstate Artist Guild on Lark Street in 2009.

His interest in the fine arts extends beyond his own work, as he often hosts salons in his home to showcase the work of other artists. Pettit frequently donates artwork to benefit local not-for-profits, including Historic Albany Foundation’s BUILT and the Washington Park Conservancy’s September Splendor.

The Artist in Residence program furthers the University Club and Foundation’s commitment to promote the use of the historic Clubhouse as a venue for performing and visual arts as well as cultural events. It builds on the success of the October, 2011 Athletic Annex Exhibition curated by local artist Chip Fasciana. For 9 days, the University Club’s former fitness annex was transformed into a “pop up art gallery” with an exhibition featuring some 20 local and regional artists. The Athletic Annex Exhibition was part of MoHu – the Mohawk Hudson Art Festival featuring theatre, dance, music, visual and random acts of art throughout the region.

This event is presented by the University Club of Albany Foundation, Inc., and one need not be a member of the University Club to attend. The 501c3 Foundation which was formed in 2009 to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the University Club building and property, its neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. Support for educational programming presented by the University Club Foundation is provided by AT&T. For more information call 414-3555 or visit www.universityclubalbany.com.

University Club hosts Reception, Presentation and Book Signing

Author and journalist Darryl McGrath will discuss and sign her book, Flight Paths: A Field Journal of Hope, Heartbreak, and Miracles with New York’s Bird People (SUNY Press, February 2016) on Tuesday, May 3 at the National Register-listed University Club of Albany at 141 Washington Avenue.

Many people know there’s a nesting box for Peregrine Falcons on the Dunn Memorial Bridge, but few know of the great, historic rescue effort that kept this bird from disappearing from our skies.

A meet the author reception will begin at 6:00 with the presentation commencing at 7:00. A book signing will follow the program, and books will be available for $20, which includes tax. The program is free but reservations are required and may be made by calling the Club at 518-414-3555; by sending an email to ellen@universityclubalbany.com; or on the Club’s website at www.universityclubalbany.com. Co-sponsored by the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission and the Audubon Society of the Capital Region, the event is sponsored by the University Club Foundation and one need not be a member of the University Club to attend.

In the late 1970s, the peregrine falcon was heading toward extinction, a victim of the pesticide DDT. Flight Paths tells the story of how a small group of New York biologists raced against nature’s clock to bring these beloved birds back from the brink in record-setting numbers.

In a narrative that reads like a suspense tale, Darryl McGrath documents the rescue project in never-before-published detail. At Cornell University, a team of scientists worked to crack the problem of how to breed peregrine falcons in captivity and then restore them to the wild.

McGrath interweaves this dramatic retelling with contemporary accounts of other at-risk species. She worked alongside biologists as they studied these elusive subjects in the Northeast’s most remote regions, and the result is a story that combines vivid narrative with accessible science and is as much a tribute to these experts as it is a call to action for threatened birds.

Darryl McGrath worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 20 years, and has written for the Times Union, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. She taught journalism and narrative writing at the University at Albany for 10 years. She is a lifelong bird enthusiast who saw some very remote parts of New York state while reporting her first book, Flight Paths. She lives in downtown Albany, where she sees peregrine falcons from her back windows, but she has a special love for some out-of-the-way canoeing spots in Rensselaer County. She is at work on her second book, which will be a compilation of the writing of her late husband, Times Union editorial writer Jim McGrath.

The University Club of Albany Foundation is a 501c3 corporation formed in 2009 to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the National Register-listed University Club building, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. Support for educational programming at the University Club is provided by AT&T.
For more information about the University Club, visit www.universityclubalbany.com.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

New York’s Hudson Valley has long been known as the birthplace of American viticulture, with roots dating to the 1600s. For centuries, the region’s terroir has tested both viticulturalist and wine maker alike, spawning advances in cold-weather breeding, grape growing, and winemaking techniques.

On Tuesday, April 19, author and winemaker J. Stephen Casscles will discuss and sign his book GRAPES OF THE HUDSON VALLEY and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada (Flint Mine Press, June 2015) at the National Register-listed University Club at 141 Washington Avenue from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Casscles will share his first-hand knowledge both in the vineyard and in the cellar to appeal to vineyardists and wine drinkers everywhere who enjoy the cold-weather grape varietals that are gaining popularity today.

A meet the author reception and wine tasting presented by Hudson-Chatham Winery will begin at 6:00 with the presentation commencing at 7:00. A book signing will follow the program, and books will be available for $30.

GRAPES OF THE HUDSON VALLEY is a practical guide for those who have an affinity for hybrid grapes and wines. Casscles’ grape descriptions cover the common labrusca and French-American hybrids popular in northern America, as well as some forgotten varieties, and even vinifera that can be successfully grown east of the Mississippi and north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The book presents key information on winter hardiness, vigor, fruit productivity, and wine quality, and is a valuable companion for budding vineyardists, seasoned growers, and wine makers who share cool climates and short growing seasons. It will also appeal to wine drinkers everywhere who enjoy cold-weather grape varietals, properly fermented and in their glass.

Stephen Casscles comes from a fruit-growing family rooted in the Hudson Valley since the 1870s. Casscles’s own fruit-growing experience began in the 1970s, when he also produced his first wines. In 1990, he established a four-acre vineyard, Cedar Cliff, in Athens, NY, where he has concentrated on identifying, growing, evaluating, and propagating heirloom grape varieties that were first developed in New York in the mid-nineteenth century. Casscles has been the winemaker at Hudson-Chatham Winery since 2008.

There is no cost for the program but reservations are required and may be made by calling the University Club Foundation at 518-414-3555 (please note new number); by sending an email to ellen@universityclubalbany.com; or online. The event is sponsored by the University Club Foundation and one need not be a member of the Club to attend.

Guests at this event are invited to dine at the University Club following the program. Please indicate the number in your party when you make your reservation so the Club can accommodate your seating request. Cash or credit cards will be accepted.

The University Club of Albany Foundation is a 501c3 corporation formed in 2009 to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the National Register-listed University Club building, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. Support for educational programming at the University Club is provided by AT&T.
For more information about the University Club, visit www.universityclubalbany.com.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

University Club Foundation, English-Speaking Union Host Talk & Dinner

British author James MacManus, Managing director of The Times Literary Supplement, will discuss and sign his latest historic novel, Midnight in Berlin (Thomas Dunne Books - April 19, 2016) on Friday, April 22 at the National Register-listed University Club of Albany at 141 Washington Avenue.

James MacManus’ other novels include The Language of the Sea, Black Venus and Sleep in Peace Tonight. In 2006, his film script about the life of British journalist George Hogg, based on his novel Ocean Devil, became a major motion picture titled The Children of Huang Shi starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. For more information, please visit www.jamesmacmanus.com.

A meet the author reception with light fare and cash bar will begin at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:00 and the program commencing at 7:00. The cost for the reception and dinner is $30, or simply attend the talk at 7:00 p.m. A book signing will follow the program, and books will be available for $24 courtesy of The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. Reservations are required and may be made by calling the Club at 518-414-3555; by sending an email to ellen@universityclubalbany.com; or online with a credit card or PayPal. The event is sponsored by the University Club Foundation and one need not be a member of the University Club to attend.

Midnight In Berlin is set in Germany in the spring of 1939. Hitler is preparing for war. Colonel Noel Macrae, a British diplomat, plans the ultimate sacrifice to stop him. The West’s appeasement policies have failed. There is only one alternative: assassination. The Gestapo, aware of Macrae’s hostility, seeks to compromise him in their infamous brothel. There Macrae meets and falls in love with Sara, a Jewish woman blackmailed into becoming a Nazi courtesan.

Macrae finds himself trapped between the blind policies of this government and the dark world of betrayal and deception in Berlin. As he seeks to save the woman he loves from the brutality of the Gestapo, he defies his government and plans direct action to avert what he knows will be a global war. Inspired by true events, Midnight In Berlin is a love story set against a world on the brink of war.

The event is co-hosted by the Albany branch of the English-Speaking Union of the United States, a non-profit, non-political membership organization whose mission is to promote scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community. It sponsors and organizes educational and cultural programs for students and teachers and provides lectures, social events, and travel opportunities for its members. The Albany Branch is one of 68 located throughout the United States and is part of a global network of ESUs in over 50 countries around the world. Visit www.esuus.org for more information.

The University Club of Albany Foundation is a 501c3 corporation formed in 2009 to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the National Register-listed University Club building, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. Support for educational programming at the University Club is provided by AT&T.

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The University Club Foundation, a 501c3 corporation, was formed to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the National Register-listed University Club building, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901.